The Israeli Connection

January 16, 1976

PARIS (Jan. 15)

Seven Israelis including a former commando, Shimon Rimon, went on trial in a Frankfurt court this week on charges of heroin smuggling and distribution in West Germany. Only six Israelis are in court. A seventh, gang leader Yosef Amiel, escaped. They face ten-year sentences.

The prosecution charged the seven smuggled several kilograms of heroin and sold it mainly to American soldiers, but also to other Israelis. Four of the seven, including a woman, Mrs. Jacqueline Hosmy, are self-confessed drug addicts.

The case hit the front pages of the German press because of Rimon’s presence among the defendants. Rimon, known in Israel as “Kushi,” is a former member of Israel’s renowned Commando Unit 101 and a legendary figure in military circles. The German press headlined some of their reports “Israeli War Hero Charged With Drug Smuggling.”

Members of West Germany’s 30,000-strong Jewish community deplored the incident, one in a chain of drugs and prostitution trials in which Israelis have been involved. The Israeli Consulate in Bonn told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that 81 Israelis are currently incarcerated in West German prisons, mainly for drug running offenses.